THE Semiconductor and Electronics Industries in the Philippines Inc. (Seipi) has raised the full-year export growth forecast of the sector—which accounts for about one-third of the country’s total merchandise exports—to up to 8 percent for 2014.
This is due to the positive developments locally and globally, including the easing of the port congestion and the recovery of the United States economy.
“We have improved our projection to the 5 percent-to-8 percent range, from the 5-percent initial projection in 2014, despite the port congestion due to robust demand,” Seipi President Dan Lachica said on Monday.
He said a higher growth could have been possible, if not for the imposition of the truck ban, which resulted in substantial losses for the semiconductor and electronics exporters. The Manila City ordinance mandating the truck ban lasted for seven months before it was lifted this month.
Still, Lachica said with the higher growth range, the industry’s share in total exports can again rise to above 40 percent for the remainder of the year, which has not been achieved since late-2013.
Seipi initially set a growth target of only 5 percent in the middle of the year given the port congestion and the truck ban that resulted in delayed shipments and additional operational costs. Power costs also tempered growth, Lachica earlier.
Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (PhilExport) President Sergio R. Ortiz-Luis Jr. said Seipi’s initial 5-percent projection was really conservative, and that the range of 5 percent to 8 percent is well within reach.
“We’ve been saying all along that the projection is modest. I think [scaling up] is natural now with the developments in the usual markets like the United States,” Ortiz-Luis said. The PhilExport president added that even a 10-percent growth is reachable, and hopes the electronics industry can reach the figure.
However, even as the electronics industry has upgraded its export projection, growth target for total exports for the year will be retained at 10 percent. This, Ortiz-Luis said, is because the higher projection for the electronics industry was already considered in the over-all growth target.
Trade Undersecretary Adrian S. Cristobal Jr. said the government shares the optimism of the industry in increasing its projection, as there has been an apparent rise in demand from foreign markets.
According to July export data from the Philippine Statistics Authority, electronic products remained as the country’s top export with total receipts of $2.09 billion, accounting for 38.3 percent of the total export revenues in July 2014 amounted to $5.461 billion.
From January to July 2014, electronic exports amounted to $ 13.97 billion versus $ 13.41 billion during the comparable period in 2013, reflecting an increase of 4.2 percent.